Oklahoma and coal

Introduction
Oklahoma coal mines produced 2.0 million tons of coal in 2006 (0.2% of the U.S. total); Oklahoma ranks 22nd out of the 50 states in terms of coal production. Oklahoma employed 222 coal miners in 2006, all of whom were non-unionized.

Oklahoma had 15 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 5,720 MW of capacity - representing 26.6% of the state's total electric generating capacity, and making Oklahoma the 20th biggest coal energy producing state in the U.S. In 2006, Oklahoma's coal-fired power plants produced 36.1 million tons of CO2, 104,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 61,000 tons of nitrogen oxide; coal-fired power plants were responsible for 35.0% of the state's total CO2 emissions. In 2005, Oklahoma emitted 29.1 tons of CO2 per person, almost 50% higher than the U.S. average.

History
Commercial coal mining began in Oklahoma in 1872, when the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad was completed. The industry took off around 1900, and by 1920 annual coal production had reached 5 million tons. Coal production in Oklahoma ranged erratically in the subsequent decades, but mostly trended downwards, as Texas oil successfully competed with coal; by 1968, production had fallen below 1 million tons per year. In the 1970's and 80's, with oil prices rising, coal production boomed once more, rising to 6.1 million tons in 1978; since then, however, a decline in the demand for high-sulfur coal - caused by the Clean Air Act - has caused the industry to decline once more, and by 2006 only 2.0 million tons were being mined annually. About 80% of this total is consumed within the state.

Environmentalists Claim Coal Neighbors' Air Polluted
In November 2010, a report produced by the Sierra Club, attributed as many as 64 days with harmful levels of smog in Oklahoma to Texas' coal-fired power plants. The report also tied air pollution from the plants to as many as 20 days of unhealthy air in Arkansas and up to 16 in Louisiana.

"The coal plants are a real problem — not just for Texas, but the entire region," said Jennifer Powis, a regional representative for the Sierra Club.

The report supported earlier concerns raised by Oklahoma officials about the potential impacts on their state from the nearly 30 coal-fired plants either operating, permitted or proposed in Texas.

Coal Waste Disposal Site in Bokoshe, Oklahoma Opposed by Local Community
Residents of Bokoshe, Oklahoma, population 450, claim that a coal ash waste site run by a company called Making Money Having Fun LLC located in the town is causing health problems among local residents. It has been reported that since the site became active, that of the 20 households in closest proximity to the dump, 14 people have been diagnosed with cancer and many others have died since the site was opened eight years ago.

A link between exposure and specific diseases is difficult to prove but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that dumps without protective liners present a high risk of human exposure to arsenic and other hazardous contaminants. Bokoshe's dump does not have a protective liner.

School children voiced their concerns by organizing a letter drive to send to their congressperson in the fall of 2010. "When I found out that nine kids out of seventeen in my sixth grade [class] that had asthma, I knew there was a problem," said Bokoshe teacher Diane Reece. In December 2010, students at Bokoshe Elementary in Oklahoma teamed up to ask AES to stop dumping fly ash from its AES Shady Point Generation Plant near their homes. Residents believe that the coal ash has many in their class to develop asthma. The AES Shady Point power plant sits just east of Bokoshe. About a mile from its main street, a 50 foot wall of fly ash waste has piled up over the last eight years. Residents say the [Making Money Having Fun]] dump site receives 80 truckloads of coal ash a day, and the ash blows over to their town and covers everything. The dump site has been in the town since 2001. The fly ash is carried by truck to Bokoshe from a nearby AES Shady Point Generation Plant coal-fired power plant.

AES insists that the fly ash is safe and the company has taken steps to better contain the fly ash during transport to the dump site.

In December 2010 Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe and Congressman Dan Boren, after being prompted by AES, are being kept updated on the issue and have stated that something needs to be done about the site. However, residents were concerned that AES was calling in a favor to the public officials, both of whom have received campaign funds from AES and oppose federal regulation of the substance. AES donated $5,000 to Senator Inofe in the past eight years. "I understand that Senator Inhofe once said that global warming is the greatest hoax ever pulled on the American people," said Tim Tanksley, a Bokoshe resident. "The biggest hoax ever pulled on the people of Bokoshe, Oklahoma, is telling them that this mountain of fly ash is temporary and will disappear."

Active

 * Hugo 2, Fort Townsend, OK

Cancelled

 * AES Shady Point II, Panama, OK
 * LS Power Sequoyah Plant, Sequoyah, OK
 * Red Rock Generating Facility, Red Rock, OK
 * Sallisaw Project, Sallisaw, OK
 * SynFuel Enid Project, Enid, OK

Coal power companies

 * OGE Energy
 * Headquarters in Oklahoma City, OK
 * Owner of Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company
 * 35th biggest coal energy producer in U.S.
 * Controls 5 coal-fired generating stations with 2854 MW total capacity
 * Western Farmers Electric Cooperative
 * Headquarters in Anadarko, OK
 * Controls 1 coal-fired generating station with 446 MW capacity
 * Active proposals: Hugo 2
 * Grand River Dam Authority
 * Headquarters in Vinita, OK
 * Owned by State of Oklahoma
 * Controls 5 coal-fired generating stations with 1010 MW total capacity
 * American Electric Power
 * AES

Existing coal plants
Oklahoma had 15 coal-fired generating units at 7 locations in 2005, with 5,720 MW of capacity - representing 26.6% of the state's total electric generating capacity.

Click on the locations shown on the Oklahoma map for plant details:

Here is a list of coal power plants in Oklahoma with capacity over 400 MW:

On December 19, 2009 the Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company responded to an Environmental Protection Agency request to install air scrubbers at its two coal plants by stating that the process may stall them from using less coal in the future. The Sierra Club also backs the company's complaint stating that installing scrubbers at an estimated cost of $1 billion may delay the company's transition from coal to natural gas. The scrubbers would reduce sulfurous emissions that contribute to regional haze, however the scrubbers would not reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Coal Ash Waste and Water Contamination in Oklahoma
In August 2010 a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice reported that Oklahoma, along with 34 states, had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash that is not currently regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report, in an attempt to pressure the EPA to regulate coal ash, noted that most states do not monitor drinking water contamination levels near waste disposal sites. The report mentioned Oklahoma based Northeastern Station as having groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.

Study finds dangerous level of hexavalent chromium at Oklahoma coal waste site
The study "EPA’s Blind Spot: Hexavalent Chromium in Coal Ash," released by EarthJustice and the Sierra Club in early February 2011, reported that the level of hexavalent chromium, a highly potent cancer-causing chemical, at a coal ash site associated with the Northeastern Station was 417 parts per billion. That level is 20,850 times as high as California's drinking water goal, and 4.17 times above the federal groundwater standard. In all, the study cited 29 sites in 17 states where hexavalent chromium contamination was found. The information was gathered from existing EPA data on coal ash as well as from studies by EarthJustice, the Environmental Integrity Project, and the Sierra Club. It included locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virgina and Wisconsin.

According to the report, the electric power industry is the leading source of chromium and chromium compounds released into the environment, representing 24 percent of releases by all industries in 2009.

A press release about the report read:


 * Hexavalent chromium first made headlines after Erin Brockovich sued Pacific Gas & Electric because of poisoned drinking water from hexavalent chromium. Now new information indicates that the chemical has readily leaked from coal ash sites across the U.S. This is likely the tip of the iceberg because most coal ash dump sites are not adequately monitored.

Major coal mines
There are no major coal mines in Oklahoma.

Citizen groups

 * Sequoyah County Clean Air Coalition

Coal Activist Videos
More videos available at:
 * Coal Activist Videos: Oklahoma

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Existing U.S. Coal Mines
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2007
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2008
 * Profiles of other states (or click on the map)